They ARE on, with the exception of DRLs. If you have a problem with DRLs you may want to talk to the Department of Transportation, the National Transportation Safety Board, all automakers, and the Government of Canada.
Good luck.
Perhaps it would instead be better if people just turned their headlights on in conditions that required it, instead of relying solely on their daytime running lights. DRLs were never meant as a headlight replacement; if conditions hit that would normally require the use of headlights without DLRs, they should be used even if DLRs are on the car.
There is no point in having your taillights on during a bright summer afternoon. All you’re going to do is burn them out.
The purpose daytime running lights is to make oncoming traffic more visible to pedestrians and cars coming in the other direction. There is no reason to do the same with taillights because there’s no equivalent visibility problem in daytime conditions, and no existing problem with cars backing over people.
Why not leave them on ‘just in case’? Because it costs money. Bulbs burn out. Gas mileage is slightly worse (trivially so maybe, but when multiplied over 100 million vehicles…). For zero benefit.
Along those lines - why not just leave the headlights on?
They make your car more visible. Stealth driving is not a good thing.
What am I missing with people who drive without headlights on on really dark days? (Technically, it’s “daylight” but it’s raining and there are low, low clouds. Turning off the lights just doesn’t make sense to me.)
No!, No!, No!, No!, No!, No!,
You are missing the point.
A while back, they were getting to many organs donated by dead bikers and so they passed a low that motorsickle’s had to have their head lights on all the time as it made them easier to see. This was good.
They ran short of organs again and since even for the goobernment, it would be too crass to repeal the law and make themselves look stupid so they passed another law that said everybody had to have their headlights on in the day time as it was safer. What the actual intent was.
Make the motorsickle’s invisible so the organ’s will flow again. This is working like a charm.
Now, people are not capable of turning their headlights on even if it would be $1000 fine to not do so and the goobernment hogs would get un-elected from their slop trough so they passed another law so that the car makers have to make it automatic for them. The only way they could make them do that was to give them some of the slop so now the car makers can add two new and un-needed lights to the front and since bikers are getting better at safety from all the hunting pressure being applied, the new laws make it easy for more rear end crashes because people have the 5/8ths lights on in front and don’t notice that they are driving on the fake head lights. More organs again and the insurance companies have to pay a lot of the freight too. But they are also at the slop trough because it is from rear end crashes so the liability policies are taking the hit and those are mandated by law where as collision insurance is not so they can through drivers into SR-22 $$$$$$$$ policies after the first wreck so the common man is once again footing the bill.
*:: should have been nicer to bikers a long time ago. ::: *
What? It sounds like you’re trying to tell us that tailights are slaved to the headlamps. Which certainly ain’t right. The switch you close to illuminate the headlights also closes the taillight circuit. There ain’t no “special” bulb.
Bulbs in the taillight assembly for headlight indicators? What, pray tell, is “headlight indicator” and why would there be such a thing on the outside rear of the automobile?
You don’t. You can’t. Not in any passenger car sold in North America anyway.
UB, you are forgetting that these are the new kids. They don’t do cars, they do computers and message boards. They have no clue.
All you can do is make a law that you hope they will blindly follow or make a gizmo that will do it automatically for them.
That’s what daytime running lights are. In cars that have them, the headlights are on all the time. But during the day they run at a lower voltage to promote bulb life, because they don’t need to be as bright as they do at night when they have to illuminate the road. They only have to be bright enough to enable the car to be seen better.
Here in Boston, on a daily basis, I see idiots driving without DRLs… headlights… or even parking lights during and well after dusk. Which just ain’t safe.
Um this is flat out untrue, Driving with your headlights (and of course taillights) on reduces your chance of being involved in a collision by as much as 30% (lowest figure I have seen is 20% wich is still a MASSIVE increase in safety) the tail lights arent exactly bright but they do stand out better, make you more visible and theres even a reason for this.
as animals humans are predators and like virtually all predators we have one trait that makes the whole lights on even in the day time work. our eyes are drawn to movement (cause if you hunt for food then moving stuff is edible) and light (because light often reflects off of moving stuff) get out your lazer pointer and find yourself a cat for an experiment.
drl’s bug the shit outta me as well, as do “parking lights” aka running lights since there is no use for them at all other than to make the driver not realise his headlights are off at night while driving in a well lit area. (because the interior dash lights are lit up)
I teach Defensive driving, this is one super easy thing anyone and everyone can do. and if you think the added cost out weighs the benifits I suggest you look at those stats again. avoiding even one minor fenderbender will likely cover the cost of lights on all the time for the rest of your life.
Agreed. I’m an insurance agent in NY state and I also teach defensive driving classes. The best thing you can do while driving is to be seen and be predictable.
My 2¢…
I understand that the lights make vehicles more visible during the day.
BUT, the whole idea of running the high-beams at a lower intensity SUCKS! I’ve had these people behind me and the high beam still shines right at my rearview mirror when they get a certain distance from me. And it’s still blinding, especially when it’s cloudy or starting to get dark.
My Mother-in-law has a newer Impala with DRLs and automatic headlights. She will drive around in bad weather without any taillights because the auto headlights won’t turn on until it’s pretty dark. Until a week ago, she didn’t even know there was a headlight knob on her dashboard.
When I used to deliver pizza, I had my headlights on all the time, day or night. I was on the road a lot and wanted to be visible. The taillights also help. Why the hell didn’t they just hardwire the regular headlights and taillights to the ignition switch?
I see a few too many cars with no tail lights on AT NIGHT! This is crazy. Some people still don’t understand, we are talking about NIGHT TIME people, not daytime daylights… These people must not be aware that their tail lights are not on because their headlights are on. Whoever the smart (!) manufacturer thought of this feature on a car, well I have no words for them…
I wish I can yell out to everyone with these “weird cars” to turn their tail lights on at night because this is not some trivial issue. Please believe that cars with no tail lights on at night are not being seen.
As mentioned 10 years ago when this thread was last active, most likely you are seeing cars being driven with the Daytime Running Lights on, where the driver didn’t notice that they hadn’t turned their headlights on. It’s the same answer now as it was then, people don’t notice they haven’t turned on their headlights when the DRLs make it light enough to drive at night.
This. There’s nothing better than a late-November overcast and raining day that’s fading from grey to black at 3:45 pm in New England. Where the streetlights are placed far apart and do not put out as much light as the ones I grew up around, I might ad.
There you are, driving suspended in a grey, misty world, in a grey fog, surrounded by black and grey and dark neutrally-coloured cars, and half of them don’t have their lights on, rendering themselves practically invisible. I half worry about running into someone.
ETA: Damn, been bitten by a zombie thread.
Again. The tail lights come on automatically when the headlights are turned on by the driver (or a sensor). NO car in north America has a separate switch to turn on the tail lights.
Apparently you are seeing people that are depending on their DRL’s driving at night.
(And personally, I never see this)
Can a zombie even get a driver’s license?
Yes, same happens to me. Plus my car has an “auto” light setting that is supposed to turn my lights on or off based on the ambient outdoor light. It’s clear that they lights are on at night, but it’s not clear in daylight overcast or stormy weather. I’ve only had this car about a month, and I’m already tending not to use the auto setting because of this uncertainty.
Be on the look out for BBBBRRRRRRAAAAAAAKKKKKEEEEE lights.
I think they still can in Florida.